Free The Quest (The Hidden Realm Book 5) by A. Giannetti Page B

Valgus who was staring dumbfounded at Anthea sleeping peacefully in her fiery bed.
    “As you wish lord,” the Uruc replied. “What of the woman? Perhaps a fall from the summit of Ossarium would end her life.”
    “Nothing can harm her while the shield that protects her lasts, Valgus,” replied Torquatus moodily. Quenching the mage fire that burned harmlessly around her, Torquatus watched morosely as the molten stone beneath Anthea firmed and cooled instantly, resuming the same polished appearance as the ebony floor around her.
    “If I cannot destroy her then I must at least keep her safe and contained,” he decided before summoning Malevolus from where he crouched by the dark throne in the center of the chamber, his eyes gleaming like yellow lamps in the dim, scarlet light that permeated the throne room.
    “Bring Lepida to me,” Torquatus commanded Malevolus, “and make haste.” The miserable creature who had once been a Goblin mage scuttled away on four legs, his claws clicking on the polished stone of the throne room. In his absence, Torquatus continued to glare silently at Anthea, a silence Valgus dared not interrupt. In a short time, a slender female Goblin dressed in a sleek gown of black satin glided into the chamber behind the brindled form of Malevolus. Pale and flawless was her skin and dark as night her brilliant eyes. Thick ebony tresses hung to her shoulders covering all but the tips of her pointed ears. Subtle and cruel even for a Goblin, she had, among her other duties, the command of Tyranus, Torquatus’s chief prison.
    “My lord, I have come at your summons,” she said in a velvety voice.
    “Here I have the substitute I need for Orianus’s daughter,” thought Torquatus to himself as he observed Lepida with a critical eye, but he kept the thought to himself for now.
    “Take this woman to Tyranus,” he commanded. “Carry her to the most remote dungeon and have the most skilled of my Dwarf slaves seal her in a coffin made of imperishable crystal. When their task is done, create a guardian more fearsome than any we have yet made and confine it in the woman’s cell. After sealing the door with powerful spells, assign guards to keep a sleepless watch on the passage leading to the chamber where she is confined.”
    “I will not fail you lord,” replied Lepida boldly. She then took up Anthea’s body as easily as Valgus had earlier. When Torquatus opened a portal before her, she stepped through it at once, vanishing from sight as Torquatus closed the magical gate behind her.
    “I will have my way in the end,” thought Torquatus to himself after Lepida had departed. “Sealed in her coffin, Orianus’s daughter must eventually die, either from the lack of sustenance and air or from the talisman which protects her, for the spell cast by the amulet will continually leach away her life force until nothing is left. Once she has perished, I can safely take the necklace and destroy it with no risk to myself. In the meantime, to while away the hours while I await her death, I may as well amuse myself by tormenting Orianus and his arrogant captain as well as the Hesperian who has thwarted my plans in both Tarsius and the Dwarf Kingdoms.”
    Turning to Valgus, Torquatus ordered him thus. “Select a woman from among the Tarsi prisoners, Valgus. Have the smallest finger of her left hand severed and laid before the gates of Niveaus before dawn along with a missive demanding the submission of Orianus. After you have accomplished this, select twenty Dwarves at random and have them delivered to the gate of the Caldaria in the morning. Give each of them treasure which my mages have ensorcelled to engender greed in whoever handles it. Tell them that in return for their freedom, I require them to bring word to Dardanus that I have captured Orianus’s daughter and that she suffers great torments at my hands.” As Valgus departed to carry out Torquatus’s commands, the Goblin King smiled to himself as he